The Asylum Seekers (Reception Conditions) Regulations 2005

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations—

(a) “the 1999 Act” means the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999(1);

(b) “asylum seeker” means a person who is at least 18 years old who has made a claim for asylum which has been recorded by the Secretary of State but not yet determined;

(c) “claim for asylum” means a claim made by a third country national or a stateless person that to remove him or require him to leave the United Kingdom would be contrary to the United Kingdom’s obligations under the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees done at Geneva on 28th July 1951 and its Protocol(2);

(d) “family members” means, in so far as the family already existed in the country of origin, the following members of the asylum seeker’s family who are present in the United Kingdom and who are asylum seekers or dependants on the asylum seeker’s claim for asylum:

(i) the spouse of the asylum seeker or his unmarried partner in a stable relationship;

(ii) the minor child of the couple referred to in paragraph (2)(d)(i) or of the asylum seeker as long as the child is unmarried and dependent on the asylum seeker;

(e) “Immigration Acts” has the same meaning as in section 44 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 2004(3); and

(f) “third country national” means a person who is not a national of a member State.

(2) For the purposes of these Regulations—

(a) a claim is determined on the date on which the Secretary of State notifies the asylum seeker of his decision on his claim or, if the asylum seeker appeals against the Secretary of State’s decision, the date on which that appeal is disposed of; and

(b) an appeal is disposed of when it is no longer pending for the purposes of the Immigration Acts.

(1)

1999 c. 33.

(2)

The Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (“the Refugee Convention”) is contained in United Nations Treaty Series No. 2545, volume 189 at page 137 and applied to those who became refugees as a result of events occurring before 1st January 1951. It came into force on 22nd April 1954. The 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees is contained in United Nations, Treaty Series No. 8791, volume 606 at page 267. It amends the Refugee Convention so that it also applies to those who become refugees as a result of events occurring on or after 1st January 1951 and it came into force on 4th October 1967.

(3)

2004 c. 19.